Wringer drive control mechanism



A rfi 18, 1944. EA TY 2,346,893

WRINGER DRIVE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Feb. 2, 1942 Una/entw- PHI/mm 6. Beazzy 4M Patented Apr. 18, 1944 WRINGER. DRIVE CONTROL MECHANISM William George Beatty, Fergus, Ontario, Canada,

assignor to Beatty Bros. Limited, Fergus, ntario, Canada, a company'incorporated in the Dominion of Canada Application February 2, 1942, Serial No. 429,255 In Canada May 25, 1940 Claims.

The present invention relates to clothes wringers for domestic washing machines and is particularly directed to providing a nove1 arrangement of parts which automatically disengages the, wringer roll driving mechanism upon release of the pressure normally exerted on the; wringer rolls. The incorporation of the present safety device into the wringer driving mechanism is in addition to the usual clutch arrangement which selectively controls the direction of rotation of the wringer rolls or disengages the driven elements from connection with the driving elements during the normal operation of the device and which usually forms part of a power driven clothes wringer.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive and unfailing device associated with the wringer mechanism which, under all working conditions, will immediately stop the rotation of the wringer r0118 as soon as the safety release device is operated.

This object is accomplished entirely independently of the power drive and of the manuall operated clutch mechanism for reversing the rotation of the rollers and moving the clutch to a neutral position. The arrangement by which this object is accomplished, in its simplest form, includes providing the drive shaft, which is asso ciated with the manually operated clutch mechanism, with a driving gear and the shaft of the lower wringer roll with a driven gear co-axial with and in juxta-position to the driving gear. A driving connection is established between the driving and driven gears by means of a third gear which is mounted in the wringer frame immediately above the driving and driven gears so that it is vertically slidable therein. In its operative position, the third mentioned gear is held in mesh with the driving and'driven gears by a releasable cover. The cover is detachably mounted on the frame and is held in place by means of the pressure releasing safety device. When the safety device is actuated, the cover, which is preferably hinged to the frame, is released by the arrangement by which pressure is applied to the wringer rolls contained within the cover. When the cover is in its released position, the third mentioned gear is free to slide vertically in the frame, and disengages from its driving connection with the gear mounted on the lower wringer roll shaft. "I Fora full understanding of the subject matter of the present invention, and the manner in which the same is constructed and performs,

reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section of a Washing machine wringer showing the mechanism of the present invention; 7

Figure 2 is an elevation partly in section showing the interlocking driving mechanism disen ed;

Figure 3 is a detail view of the manually operated clutch mechanism; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary end elevation illustrating the hinged connection of the cover to the frame.

Like characters of reference refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawing.

In the accompanying drawing, only such parts of the wringer mechanism are shown as are considered necessary for the purpose of illustratin the invention. These parts of the wringer include a wringer head II] in which is mounted a manually operated clutch mechanism for reversing the direction of rotation of the rolls and moving said mechanism to a neutral position, the clutch being operated by the lever II mounted on top of the head Ill. In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing, the wringer head II) is swivelly mounted on the wringer post, being held in fixed position by the locking arm 6 which extends from the spring urged, pivotally mounted, lever 1. The locking arm 6 is withdrawn from its locking position by rotation of the lever I on its pivot, either by the downwardly extending projecting arm of the lever or by the rod 8 whichextends from the lever to the outside of the frame to terminate in a knob 9.

Th wringer is operated by a power driven mechanism comprising a driving gear 4', driven gears I and 2 carried by the horizontal driven shaft 3 on opposite sides of gear 4, and a clutch 5 slidaloly keyed to the shaft 3 between the gears I and 2. The gears I and 2 are meshed with the gear 4. The clutch 5 is slidably keyed to the shaft 3 in such a manner that in one position of its movement it is brought into mesh with gear I, in which position the shaft 3 is driven in'one direction; or with gear 2, in which position the shaft 3 is driven in the opposite direction;

or between the gears I and 2 and out of mesh with either of them, in which position the shaft remains stationary. The clutch 5 is moved into and out of its respective operating and neutral positions by the lever II. This form of clutch mechanism is known and forms no part of the present inventionr tion, the cover I is hingedly connected at its,

rear to the frame as indicated by the numeral 3|, Figure 4. In operative position, the front of the cover is latched to the frame by a pivotally mounted latching device at each end of the frame, indicated by the numeral 40, Figure 4, in which position the spring 32 exerts pressure on the wringer rolls. A bar I6 extends across the front of the frame and is joined to the latching devices in such a manner that a slight pressure on the bar I5 actuates the latches on their pivots to release them from their connection with the cover. Upon release of the connection between the cover and the frame by actuation of the bar I6, commonly known as the pressure release safety device, the front of the cover is swung upward- 1y away from th frame, as illustrated in Fig ure 2, by the spring 32. This form of latching arrangement and pressure release device is well known in the art, as exemplified by the Canadian Design Patent No. 13,035/66, issued to Beatty Bros. Limited, April 12, 1941, and constitutes no part of the present invention.

The portion of the wringer head adjacent the frame is provided with a channel I'I extending vertically in the head and of sufficient size to contain the mechanism Which is the subject matter of this invention. The lower roller I3 is provided with a shaft I3 which extends into the channel II. Extending into the channel II, from the side opposite to the one through which the shaft I8 enters, is a power driven shaft I9 which is associated with the clutch mechanism contained within the head ID. The shaft I9 is connected to the driven shaft 3 whereby a driving connection is constantly maintained between the two shafts. The shafts I8 and i9 ar not directly'connected but have mounted thereon, within the channel II, a pair of co-axial and juxta-positioned gears 20, H the gear 29 being mounted on the shaft I9 and the gear 2i being mounted on the shaft I8. A driving connection is established between the gears 25, 2| by means of a gear 22 which is mounted above the gears 20, 2i in the channel IT. The gear 22 is rotatably carried on a shaft journalled in a U-shaped frame 23 which is slidably mounted in the channel I! in order that the gear can move vertically in the channel. When the cover I5 is in its normal operative position, in which position it i shown in Figure 1, the cover I5 presses against the frame 23, thereby holding the gear 22 in mesh with the gears 20, 2I, and a driving connection is established between the shafts I8 and I9. The pressure applied to the frame 23 may be regulated by the set screw 26 carried in the cover I5. The head of set-screw 24 presses against the frame 23 thereby holding the gear 22 in its proper relationship to gears 202I when the coverai5. is in its normally closed position.

In operation, the gear 22 is normally meshed with gears 2fi2I, thereby transmitting power from the driving to the driven element. When the pressure releasing safety device It is actuatedfthe cover I5 is released from its normally closed position, as shown in Figure l, and swings upwardly on its hinges, due to the action of the release of the pressure exerting arrangement 32. When the cover I5 moves upwardly, the fram 23 is free to move vertically upwardly, thus disengaging gear 22 from its mesh with the driving gear 20. It will thus be seen that as soon as the cover I5 is released, the driving connection between shafts I8 and I9 is broken and the rotation of the rolls I3 and I 4 is stopped.

I have found that the arrangement of parts constituting the present invention can be incorporated very inexpensively into clothes wringers for domestic washing machines. It is positive and instantaneous in its action and it does not interfere in any way with the smooth and efficient association of the various parts under normal operating conditions.

It will be understood, of course, that modifications can be incorporated in the preferred embodiment of my invention described and illustrated herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a power operated clothes wringer, a frame, a pair of wringer rolls having shafts journalled in and carried by said frame, a cover normally latched to said frame and separable therefrom to at least a limited extent, means actuated by said cover when in latched position for applying pressure on said rolls, and means for instantaneously releasing said pressure, and means for driving said wringer rolls comprising a power driven gear, a driving gear mounted on the shaft of one of said rolls, and a third gear journalled in and carried by a housing movable independently of said rolls, said third gear being held in mesh with said power driven and roll driving gears when pressure is exerted on said rolls and out of mesh with said power driven'and roll driving gears on the release of the pressure on said rolls.

2. In a power operated clothes wringer, a frame, a pair of wringer rolls having shafts journalled in and carried by said frame, a cover normally latched to said frame and separabletherefrom to at least a limited extent, means actuated by said cover for applying pressure on said rolls, and means for instantaneously releasing said pressure, and means for driving said wringer rolls comprising a power driven gear, a driving gear mounted on the shaft of one of said rolls, and a third gear journalled in and carried bya housing movable independently of said rolls, said third gear being held in mesh with said power driven and roll driving gears when said cover is in latched position and out of mesh with said power driven and roll driving gears when the cover is in unlatched position.

3. In a power operated clothes wringer, a frame, a pair of wringer rolls having shafts journalled in and carried by said frame, a cover normally latched to said frame and separable therefrom to at least a limited extent, means actuated by said cover when in latched position for applying pressure on said rolls, and means for instantaneously releasing said pressure, a vertical channel at one end of said frame and spaced apart from the ends of said rolls, the shaft of at least one of said rolls extending into said channel, and means for driving said wringer rolls comprising a power driven gear, a driving gear mounted on the wringer roll shaft extending into said channel, and a sthird gear journalled in and carried by a housing vertically movable in said channel, said third gear being held in mesh with said power driven and roll driving gears when pressure is exerted on said rolls and out of mesh with said power driven and roll driving gears on the release of said pressure.

4. In a power operated clothes wringer, a frame, a pair of wringer rolls having shafts journalled in and carried by said frame, a cover normally latched to said frame and separable therefrom to at least a limited extent, means actuated by said cover when in latched position for applying pressure on said rolls, and means for instantaneously releasing said pressure, a vertical channel at one end of said frame and spaced apart from the ends of said rolls, the shaft of at least one of said rolls extending into said channel, and means for driving said wringer rolls comprising a power driven gear, a driving gear mounted on the wringer roll shaft extending into said channel, and a third gear journalled in and carried by a housing vertically movable in said channel, said housing being held in fixed position by said cover when the cover is in its latched position whereby said third gear is held in mesh with said power driven and roll driving gears and when the cover is in unlatched position the housing moves upwardly in said channel whereby said third gear is held out of mesh with said power driven and roll driving gears.

5. In a power operated clothes wringer, a frame, a pair of wringer rolls having shafts journalled in and carried by said frame, a cover normally latched to said frame and separable therefrom to at least a limited extent, means in said cover for exerting pressure on said rolls, and releasable means for maintaining said cover in latched position on said frame whereby pressure is exerted on said rolls, and means for driving said Wringer rolls comprising a power driven gear, a driving gear mounted on the shaft of one of said rolls, and a third gear journalled in and carried by a housing movable independently of said rolls, said third gear being held in mesh with said power driven and roll driving gears when 

